On a warm All Hallow's Eve at Davidson's Alumni Soccer Stadium, the Blue Devils were haunted by a familiar storyline.
No. 19 Duke (10-5-1) notched a 2-0 shutout over the Wildcats (4-11-1) and came away with another momentum-building win.
But the victory came at a cost.
Senior midfielder Michael Videira, a captain and All-America candidate, suffered a serious injury to his quadriceps, leaving the rest of his season in doubt.
"We're very very happy about the win, but very concerned about one of our top players who we may be missing for a while," head coach John Rennie said.
For a Blue Devil squad whose roster has been plagued by injuries, the loss of another veteran starter is nothing new.
Forward Spencer Wadsworth and midfielder Zack Pope, who scored both of Duke's goals in the contest, have come a long way, recovering from serious surgeries in the spring. Defender Tim Jepson is finally back in full form after the injury he incurred in exhibition play. The result, in Jepson's case, has been much stronger defensive performances for the Blue Devils.
"It's kind of a season that really has never gotten started," Rennie said. "[It's] great that those guys are back, playing well and contributing, but having another injury tonight, losing Mike Videira-it's just a jinxed, star-crossed kind of a deal because we have a really good team when we have everyone out on the field."
Duke showed that prowess when it boasted its full roster Wednesday night.
The Blue Devils outshot the Wildcats 26-5, but were frustrated until the 75th minute when Pope connected on a header from a Joe Germanese cross for his first goal of the season.
Wadsworth padded the lead with a late strike in the 88th minute, assisted by defender Graham Dugoni. The score was the senior's second tally of the year.
On the other side of the field-bolstered by that rejuvenated defense-goalkeeper Justin Papadakis only had to make two saves to secure Duke's fifth shutout of the season. In the Blue Devils' last three games, they have allowed just one goal.
Rennie emphasized, however, that his offense will now need to step up its game to compliment the newly restored defensive play and make up for the loss of its veteran leader.
"The defense now has played really really well..We were not playing all that well defensively before Tim Jepson came back," Rennie said. "We still need to score goals. Since Mike Videira's injured, that's going to hurt us in that regard."
With just two weeks left until the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils do not have much time for Videira to get healthy and cannot afford to lose the edge they have gained over the past four games.
Instead, Duke will have to prepare and adjust to playing without one of its senior leaders. But it's not like the team hasn't done it before.
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